AN IDEAL RIPENING SEASON ... LONG AND COOL, PRODUCING
INTENSELY VIBRANT FLAVOURS
Winemakers Notes
The scent of pink grapefruit and lemon
blossom is beautifully counterbalanced by smoky,
savoury aromatics, reminiscent of roasted cashews
and macadamia nuts. The palate is rich yet refined
with a chalky texture supporting the delicious mineral-like
complexity and creaminess derived from traditional
winemaking techniques. Gentle fruit handling has
produced a tightly structured, elegant wine that
will age gracefully over the next six to ten years.
Vineyard
The grapes for this wine – predominantly
the low yielding Mendoza clone with a lesser quantity
of UCD6 and newer Burgundian clones – were
harvested from nine estate and grower vineyards
located in the Wairau and Brancott Valleys of Marlborough.
Soils vary from the silty gravels found in Rapaura
to the fine silty loams of Renwick and the Brancott
Valley. The vineyards are planted at a density of
1,850 vines per hectare and all vines are trained
to the Scott Henry trellis system.
Season
Settled spring weather at the start
of the 2002 growing season and the continued effects
of the 2001 drought, provided excellent flowering
conditions and an abundant crop was set. Above average,
but welcome, rains fell between November and the
end of January, necessitating rigorous canopy management
and selective fruit removal. Temperatures were generally
quite cool during February, which slowed ripening
and delayed the start of harvest, but idyllic autumn
conditions prevailed during March and April, with
brilliant sunny days and cool nights. At times a
testing season for the vineyard crew ... a nail-bitingly
slow but steady ripening period, which in the end
delivered fruit with great concentration and a remarkable
array of flavours and aromas.
Harvest
The chardonnay harvest commenced on
29th March and finished on 24th April. Stable but
cool weather with intermittent showers persisted
through the harvest period but all fruit was received
at the winery in exceptional condition with excellent
balance and flavour. Fruit composition averaged
23.9 Brix, pH 3.20 and acid 9.4g/l.
Vinification
Three quarters of the crop was machine
harvested at night into half-tonne bins designed
to minimise phenolic extraction and loaded directly
into tank presses, the remainder was hand picked
and handled the same way. The juice was then racked
into stainless steel tanks or oak barrels. The tank
portion was inoculated with a pure yeast strain,
and then transferred to barrel once fermentation
had started. The remainder was allowed to ferment
using indigenous yeast strains. All batches were
fermented in French oak barrels, 20 percent of which
were new and most of the wine went through malolactic
fermentation. The components were blended after
one full year in barrel and the blend remained on
yeast lees for a further period prior to a light
fining for clarification, then bottling in the spring
of 2003. Final analysis shows an alcohol of 14.0v/v,
pH 3.34 and acid of 6.7g/l.
